Linchpin of Customs climbs the paperwork mountain

Solicitor David Pickup relishes dictating tactics as he pulls the strings in a series of key cases

As HM Customs and Excise Solicitor, David Pickup has to deal with a 'huge amount' of administration but he still sits in on key cases assisting on tactical issues.

'I am the one hissing "you cannot be serious" from the back of the court,' he jokes.

Mr Pickup, a 'very youthful looking 49', who was made a CB (Companion of the Order of the Bath) in the Queen's Birthday Honours, has a panoramic view of the River Thames and Blackfriars Bridge from his second floor office in King's Beam House.

He is living proof of his contention that joining the Government Legal Service can open up horizons not possible in private practice.

Called to the bar in 1976, he joined the Treasury Solicitor's department in 1978, doing judicial reviews and case law litigation.

He then moved to the Department of Energy's advisory division, where he was involved in the privatisation of British Gas, before returning to the Treasury Solicitor's Department to head the judicial review section and take part in two special projects - the Cleveland child abuse inquiry and the Death on the Rock inquests in Gibraltar of three IRA terrorists shot by the SAS.

In 1998, he became head of the department's finance, personnel and security section before becoming head of chancery litigation in 1990.

From 1991 to 1995, he was legal adviser to the Ministry of Defence, before taking over as Customs Solicitor.

'The job involves a huge amount of administration but I would still regard myself as a lawyer.

At the end of the day, it is my neck on the block,' he says.